With POSTIDENT by Photo, new customers can complete the entire registration process online, with validation of their driver's license and their personal ID.

Deutsche Post, Germany's leading identification process provider, has launched an innovative solution to verify both a driver's identity and their driver's license. Deutsche Post developed the process in close collaboration with pilot partner DriveNow over the course of several months. Focusing on greater usability and process quality, the new service considers the special needs of carsharing providers and customers.

With POSTIDENT by Photo, new customers can complete the entire registration process online, with validation of their driver's license and their personal ID. DriveNow is Germany's first provider of free-floating carsharing services to offer one-stop registration, from initial data entry to receiving a customer card.

After completing their registration via the desktop version of the DriveNow website, potential customers are directed to the Deutsche Post portal. There they can make copies of their driver's license and personal ID, and complete their application by recording a short video clip. The process takes just minutes from start to end. Deutsche Post Staff check and validate the documents which are then deleted from the server. The new DriveNow member receives their DriveNow customer card by post within days.

"Unlike companies that must adhere to legal requirements when identifying users, our customers have other, more specific needs," explains Thomas Hauck, Executive Vice President Dialog Marketing, Identity Management and Digital Products at Deutsche Post. "They want simple, fast end-user solutions that help them seal deals and save costs. With our new POSTIDENT by Photo process, these customer expectations are met." In explaining how the development partnership came about, Hauck says Deutsche Post recognizes the rising popularity of carsharing in the quest for personal mobility in built-up areas and cities. "With this digitization process," he adds, "with our pilot partner DriveNow we have come up with a solution to push development this future-focused mobility model further."

Nico Gabriel, Managing Director DriveNow, agrees: "Our goal was to make the customer's first encounter with the DriveNow fleet as simple and convenient as possible. That's why we worked with Deutsche Post to develop POSTIDENT by Photo to provide a simple, easy to use solution that meets carsharing needs. POSTIDENT enables potential customers to photograph their documents on the spot and have them checked and verified online within a short space of time. They no longer have to visit a DriveNow registration station to complete their application. This is new in Germany's free-floating carsharing sector."

In the pilot phase customers can access POSTIDENT by Photo via the desktop version of the DriveNow website using either Firefox or Google Chrome. The process is currently being optimized for use with other browsers as well as for mobile devices. At the moment, POSTIDENT can be used for all driving licenses issued in Germany. Building on the experience gained with Germany's extensive carsharing market, DriveNow and Deutsche Post aim to expand the service to enable its use with drivers' licenses from other EU member states and, ultimately, those from other countries in Europe.